Miller broke no laws, investigation documents say

Neighbors think she's inconsiderate, but details of the Utah Attorney General's investigation into Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller reveal she didn't break any laws.

Miller asked her Republican counterpart, Attorney Gen. Mark Shurtleff, to investigate after neighbors accused her of hosting underage drinking parties, running an unlicensed day-care in the home and violating several bylaws of the neighborhood homeowners' association.

Investigative reports obtained by the Deseret News through a public records request show that the two-month investigation found a lot of neighborhood unrest, but nothing that could result in criminal charges against the district attorney.

"We talked to anybody and everybody to find out if the allegations were true," Paul Murphy, the AG's spokesman, said in January at the completion of the probe. "We found nothing criminal. Period."

Complaints about Miller's home ran the gamut: An unleashed dog wandering in front of the house, weeds littering Miller's front lawn and spreading seedlings to the neighbors' yards, to too many cars parked in the cul-de-sac that sometimes blocked access to driveways.

Other complaints had a little more meat to them. One accused Miller of running a law office out of her home without a business license, while another claimed she was illegally operating a day-care out of the home for her employees.

Miller did break a city ordinance by running a business out of her home without a license, but has since moved the business.

As for the day care accusations, documents obtained by the Deseret News through the Government Records Access and Management Act show a state licensor visited Miller's home twice in March 2007, and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

At the time, the paid nanny watched three children of employees who work for the Millers, while the housekeeper brought her 1-year-old son to work and was responsible for his care. Since only three children are in care, "This does not require a license or certificate," according to an action log from the Bureau of Child Care Licensing.

The day-care complaints came from both an anonymous source to local officials and the media, as well as Gary Zielinski, Miller's next-door neighbor.

"This has been going on way too long. Would someone step up and take care of this?" Zielinski wrote in a letter to Michael Johnson, CEO of FCS Community Management. "It would be nice to sit on my porch and not watch a day care."

Zielinski also accused Miller of running underage drinking parties, going as far to say Miller's home was "party central." He told the Deseret News that slamming doors and fights awakened him and his wife during frequent gatherings of young people that sometimes ran until 4 a.m.

Miller said her family has "been harrassed by a neighbor who, for reasons known only to himself, has taken it as his personal vendetta against us," Miller and her husband, Lorenzo, wrote in a letter to an HOA attorney.

"We are tired of this abuse and will tolerate it no longer. We have violated no law and will not discontinue providing safe, secure child care to a person who is not only an employee but a family friend."